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I’ve been reviewing Windows 8.1 Preview in general and my feeling is that Windows 8 has arrived. Microsoft has done an excellent job at merging Start with Desktop with a new start menu and melding of wallpaper. Allowing users to login directly to the desktop I would think will more than satisfy most concerns about the big change to Windows 8. The built-in Skydrive app syncs files to your pc for offline access. Very good.

Looking specifically at communication in Windows 8.1, it appears that IM/Presence, video and VoIP/voice calling to phones has become a feature of the latest Windows operating system with Skype’s arrival as an app that is part of the Windows operating system

So you want to know why Skype is abandoning its radical and cool peer-to-peer roots? Is it the big bad “Microsoft”? or the long fingers of the “NSA”? Nothing so sensational and something much more pragmatic. According to Skype Principle Architect, Matthew Kauffman, in a response on MarkMail, this big change is being forced by two very pragmatic technological items:

“Over the past few years, the number of Skype users who are using Skype from iOS-based phones and tablets, Android-based phones and tablets, Windows Phone-based phones, and Windows RT tablet devices has gone from a tiny percentage to a significant fraction of our user base. And these devices are a lot different: they're running on battery, sometimes on WiFi but often on expensive (both in money and battery) 2G or 3G data networks, and essentially "off" most of the time”

Here is an excerpt on the bootstrapping issue:

“…election winners were a monoculture of Windows desktop machines running the latest Windows Skype client. This proved to be a problem when not once, but twice a global Skype network outage was caused by a crashing bug in that client... bootstrapping the network back into existence afterwards was painful and lengthy…”

Another significant item that others have speculated (Mary Jo Foley, ARSTechnica, others) that Matthew Kauffman’s message verifies is that while Skype branding is replacing Live Messenger branding, it really is Live Messenger infrastructure replacing Skype “infastructure” in the background. Matthew Kauffman notes:

“…we have merged the Skype and Windows Messenger message delivery backend services, and this now gets you delivery of messages even when the recipient is offline…”

So while many some may be jumping to the conclusion that “Microsoft” is to blame for the big changes at Skype, is it really the mass migration to mobile devices we really have to blame? Does this mean Skype will have to change its name to Skyse? (Skype name came from Skypeer to peer. Is it now SkyServer? :-)

What ramifications does this have for new web/global scaled P2P WebRTC communication solutions?

[So, for all those worried about “Big Brother”: perhaps instead of a “1984” scenario (big brother intent on watching us), maybe is it more like a “Brave New World” reality? (our comfort & convenience effectively gives up privacy and individuality?…)]

Tomorrow evening (Tues, June 18, 2013) I plan to be presenting on “Skype – Lync Connectivity” at the Philly UC UG. We will be looking at Lync federation, how to enable Skhype-Lync as well as how this works “behind the curtain”.

If you are in the area and want to join, please click here for the quick sign up.If you would have interest in attending via a Lync Meeting, sign up and note “request Lync Meeting”

Ever wish you would get a phone call as a convenient interuption? Ever setup Lync Server federation or an Edge at 1am and wish you could get an automated “buddy” to give you a call? Big Boss by Event Zero is a new, free, no sign-up web service that does this right now!

“This international conference will highlight the challenges and impact of recent technology (the Internet, social media, and telecommunications, for example) on manufacturing, family life, consumption, medicine, and leisure for Amish and other Plain communities in North America. In addition, conference presentations and seminars will cover many other aspects of Amish life including health care, mental health, social services, agriculture, business, history, quilts, and Amish-themed fiction.”

You might think "What on earth do Amish have to say about technology?!" My take away was that they do have some interesting things to say to a wider audience. The conference included academics (Prof. Donald Kraybill, Steven Nolt, David Weaver-Zercher), those interested in tech culture (Kevin Kelly of Wired Magazine) and many Amish and plain Mennonites.

Below are some general ideas the I thought were interesting:

“The Amish have over arching reasons for why they limit technology, the rest of us limit technology too, but with no over arching reason why. We do it in a very adhoc, individual and non-consistent way.” --Prof. Donald Kraybill

“Amish are not Luddites. They are fine using technology, they are just intentional about what they allow” --Prof. Donald Kraybill

“Both Amish and "English" are increasingly getting their identity from what they don't allow themselves: think about vegetarian, wholefoods, etc” --Kevin Kelly

“We are both the creators/masters of technology and the slaves of technology. We create technology and then immediately become its slave as well.” --Kevin Kelly

I immediately looked around the room to make sure Polycom or Microsoft Lync marketing people had stealthily slipped a PowerPoint slide into Prof. Kraybill’s presentation! But no, this WAS the reason Amish reject phones: They are so interested in maintaining strong personal relationships that they reject a technology they consider inferior to the “in person” experience. The question that occurred to me: What if I selected technology based largely on how it will affect my relationships with those important to me?

As if pointing out the “weakness” of voice only calling wasn’t enough, Kevin Kelly, cofounder of Wired Magazine noted part way through his presentation that he thinks Amish will actually accepted video conferencing!

“Amish accept a lot of technology. What are some new technologies we might see Amish accepting? I think things like GMO's, 3D printing, Solar and battery technology (already happening), and video conferencing…” –Kevin Kelly

I thought it was quite interesting that Kevin Kelly thought videoconferencing among new tech he thinks Amish / "plain" Mennonite people will accept in future. In a latter talkback session I queried him on why he thought Amish would have interest in videoconferencing and his thought was that it would(this is his idea, I would have my reservations)

Other Amish Conference 2013 Experiences

I found it quite interesting to have several days to chat with Amish/”plain” Mennonites and people like Kelly about technology. I found it interesting, among other things, to note that Kelly takes a “sabbath” from technology work 1 day a week just like I do myself.

Kevin Kelly’s PowerPoint hung (ironically on a slide: Technological Lessons of the Amish) After a too long awkward attempt trying to get going, with no A/V technician in sight, I overcame the “one person can never step out of a group and help when it is not his job” and made an appearance on-stage to give a go at troubleshooting. (Eventually the technician came and we got it going again)

If you are interested in technology and how we interface with it, I might suggest Kevin Kelly’s book: What Technology Wants. (incidentally there is a complete chapter on Amish called “Amish Hacking”)

What if we, like the Amish, selected our technology based on how it would effect our most important relationships?

The TechEd UCWA Deep Dive session (June 5, in progress as of this writing) is revealing more about the real time component of UCWA. Below is a diagram of media flows (submitted by Mattias Kressmark) and we will post more as information becomes available as this session (OUC-B405) is in progress as of this writing.

It should be noted that UCWA with real time media already is what powers the VOIP/video capabilities in the new Lync Mobile 2013 client. (According to Girija Bhagavatula during OUC-B405 TechEd2013 session, 3 out of the 5 Lync clients are already powered with UCWA)

One could presume that UCWA could be used to remove the need for a plugin for LWA (Lync Web App/ web-based meeting join experience). Lync currently does not have a stand-alone end user web client, but with this API developers or Microsoft could certainly create such a client.

Microsoft has not noted when the voice/video portion of the UCWA API will be released.

Was glad to chat a little bit via Skype to Mattias Kressmark who was on the TechEd 2013 expo floor last evening and get a little conference update. He and others are covering Lync developments quite well via twitter but it was good to video-chat to see & hear the buzz (and note that New Orleans culture seems to be rubbing of a bit on conference attendees as shown below)

A summary from Day1/June 3:

Lync Labs are good and working great so if you are on the ground, head over give them a go. (As a secret side benefit the lab facilitators are great Lync experts)

An observation from UC standpoint: There were a lot Server announcements to talk about but no big Skype or Lync announcements, In fact they were not even named in the 2 hour keynote on Day 1. (presumably because most big announcements made at #LyncConf13)

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About Me

Matthew M. Landis has various industry certifications: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Microsoft Certified Database Administrator, Microsoft Office Certified Expert, Microsoft Certified Dynamics, Network+ and A+.
In 1995 Matt started Landis Computer which has been providing IT services to small businesses for 14 years and is now a 11 person Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Matt has over 14 years of field experience implementing Windows Server, Microsoft & Dynamics ERP solutions in small business environments.
Matt is very active in the Windows based IP PBX community: He was a 3CX Valued Professional from 2008-2010 and has co-authored a book on Windows communication software "3CX IP PBX Tutorial". He is pbxnsip Certified, he has contributed thousands of posts to the 3CX community forum and he writes the monthly Windows PBX Report e-newsletter for VARS and administrators. His company, Landis Computer, was the first company in the USA to be designated a 3CX Premium Partner.
When not working and when a chance affords Matt likes to travel internationally with his wife Rosalyn and is very involved in his church.